All right, let's turn to Luke
chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. And let's read the first 11 verses
together. Luke chapter 2, beginning with
verse 1. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea under the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary, his spouse's
wife, being great with child, And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for
them in the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is
born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ
the Lord. I titled the lesson this morning,
Good Tidings of Great Joy. Good tidings. You know, so often,
you know, when the angel of the Lord appeared to them, to the
shepherds out on that hill, they were afraid. I've never seen an angel and
if I did, I wasn't aware of it. But if I had recognized him as
the angel of the Lord, I no doubt would have feared him just as
they did. I would have been afraid. But you know, the thing of it
is, when God sends his messenger to you, he's not sending him
to you to judge you. or to destroy you, if he was
gonna destroy you, he'd just do it. You'd learn about it in judgment.
He don't have to appear to you to destroy you. But he sent his
messenger with good tidings. Good tidings. He's not there
for your harm, he's there for your good. Good tidings of great joy. There's
three things I want us to focus our attention on this morning
here in Luke chapter two, in these first 11 verses. It happened
on this particular day, but it happens in the lives of every
true believer as he's called to see his savior, Christ the
Lord. It always comes to pass. And
the first thing I want us to see and think about is the providence
of God. The providence of God. He takes
time in the scriptures and the Holy Spirit don't put things
in the scriptures to fill in space like we do when we write
a book. Everything he puts in there has
a purpose, has a reason. And he said, and it came to pass.
And it always does. It always does. God's at work
in his providence, and he gives us every detail. He tells us
about Caesar Augustus. Well, Caesar's just a word like
Pharaoh. It stood for the Roman emperor,
Caesar. And they called this one, because
of his greatness, you know what the term August means, absolute. Well, they called him Caesar
Augustus. He's the August ruler in Rome,
absolute potentate in Rome. And he tells us that he was now
in charge of everything. There's not going to be any resistance.
He's going to tell you what to do, and you're going to do it
or die, one or the other. And then he tells us a certain
governor, certain governor, he was over here in this city where
where Joseph and Mary had to go for this taxing. He's filling
us in on his providence. No telling how many details just
surrounding Caesar Augustus and Cyrenius. There's no telling
how that would be a maze that you could never get through just
for them to be in this place at this time. But then you multiply
that times Mary and Joseph and all of these things that are
going on and he's just taking a little clip out of time and
he's showing us how detailed his providence is. God is in
control. He's controlling everything.
Everything. He said, I'm not, I'm God. There's nothing like me. No,
you can't compare me to anybody else because there's none like
me. I'm God. I declare the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying
my counsel shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure. Now, I'm
not a brainiac. I'm not the sharpest pencil in
the box. But I do know this, you can't declare the end from
ancient times unless you control everything in between. Henry used to use this illustration
of the man who shot Kennedy. He said, suppose God took a nap,
flew in the eye of that man with that rifle up there. Would have
changed history, wouldn't it, with a nap? You reckon you'd
read about that in the newspaper? Now, God telling us here, I'm
in control of these things. I'm working, I'm working all
things after the council of my own will. I'm working here. I'm working in every detail.
And boy, how upset we get at the details, don't we? I was
over at Lowe's to buy a tube of 12. And the last one I bought
was $11. This one was $34. I was just
stomping the floor. But there was a reason for it.
After I got home and cooled down, I called another lumber company
and got it for $16. So it's got Providence working, working,
working, working. It works in every part of our
life, and we don't ever think about it. Don't ever think about
it. But I tell you, we all take comfort
in it. God's in control. Men aren't, especially in this
country in our day. It just looks like... The dam
broke. I mean, it just looks like, ah.
No, he's still in control. He's still in control. And he'll
work these things after the counsel of his own will. And we ought
to take some comfort in that. You know, even unbelievers talk
about God's providence, but they only do it when it's convenient.
They talk about God's providence from time to time, They do not
live or allow such a thing to interact with their lives that
they live on this earth. But when something happens, then
they'll start talking about the providence of God. But they don't
wake up in the morning and thank God for his providence, do they? Men and women are, and I want
you to understand, we're not gods. We're not gods. We got no divine attributes in
our character. I've never met a man who was
all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, unchangeable. Have you? Man has nothing to do, even the
first man had nothing to do with his own being. In him, Paul said
on Mars Hill, we live and move and have our being. In him, we
didn't have anything to do with it. had nothing to do with our own
being, let alone the creation of the universe. And I'll tell you this, we don't
know a whole lot about eternity. We think in terms of time. We
make our plans, we live our lives out and in the scope of time,
time, time. We don't know anything about
eternity. God never had an original thought, did you know that? Never
did. I have no concept of that. No beginning, no end. He uses
that word beginning for us, not for him. We know nothing of eternity.
We're creatures who have entered into eternity by natural conception
and birth, and we live out our lives in a world created before
the first human ever gazed on it. Paul said, through faith, we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. We
understand that by faith. There's no other way to understand
it. You're not going to understand it when you can explain it because
you can't explain it. How did God make everything that
is out of nothing that you see? Because he's God. And you received that by faith.
That's the only way you can know. Natural man wants to, you know,
he wants to run his test on everything and run his theories on everything
and then try to mix that with the world. No. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. And
we know nothing about the world that we live in except what God
has been pleased to tell us. Our whole idea, before I came
to know God, Before I had any kind of a revelation of grace,
a revelation of Christ, before any of those things happened,
I formed opinions about what this world was all about, and
I was wrong on every one of them. We know nothing about what's
going on in this world. Nothing, except what God tells
us. And what's he tell us about the
world? He calls it this present evil world. He tells us that sufficient for
the day is the evil thereof. Every day is filled with evil. He tells us this world is polluted
and it's groaning and travailing, waiting on the adoption. They're
waiting on the adoption of the children of God. It's waiting
to be purified again by God. Scripture said, for by him were
all things created that are in heaven. What's that? Angels. Who did that? Who created the
angels? Christ did. They were created by him, now
listen, and for him. For his good pleasure, for his
purpose, for his end. And he's before all things, and
by him all things consist. They have a continuance. They
work together harmoniously. And our great God has an eternal
purpose of grace, and this purpose is how God's providence is ordered
and arranged. In Ephesians 1.9, the Apostle
Paul tells us that God has made known unto us the mystery of
his will. according to his good pleasure,
which he purposed in himself. He didn't have to. He didn't have to. He wanted to. And he did. He did. And here it is, that in the dispensation,
what in the world does that mean? Little clips of time? No. Dispensation,
the word means stewardship. That's what it means, stewardship.
In the stewardship of the fullness of times, that is the commitment
of those things into the hands of Christ the steward. He's the
mediatorial king. Here it is. In the dispensation,
in the stewardship of the fullness of the times, committing of all
things into the hand of Christ, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are on earth,
even in him, in whom, that is, in the steward of the stewardship,
Christ, in whom we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him, now listen to this, who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. That man in whom God first trusted,
that's what he says in the next verse, that we should be to the
praise of his glory, talking about God, God the Father, in whom We should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Who did? God did. Trusted all things into His hand. Now I said all that to say this.
The prophets under the influence of the Holy Spirit said that
Christ would be born of a virgin. He would be born in the city
of David. But Mary and Joseph lived in
Judea in a little town called Nazareth. But his birth must take place
in Bethlehem. Now here's the one that the angel
said, a savior's going to be born of this woman. A virgin
shall conceive. But she's over here in Nazareth. Bethlehem's over here. And so the time drew near, and
our God arranged his providence for a great emperor to decree
a tax enrollment. They didn't actually go there
to pay taxes. They went there to enroll. That's
why Mary had to go. If he was just going to pay taxes,
Joseph could win. But this was an enrollment, and
everybody had to appear. And so where did he go? Well,
the world would say, as luck would have it, He goes to Bethlehem. And I've had enough children
to know that kids don't come on time. They don't come on time after
they're born. They still don't come on time. But they basically
don't come on time when they're born. You think they're coming
on this day. Boy, you all sit for it. You
got your little box packed, and we're going to the hospital.
Nothing happens. They'll come before. or they'll
come after her. But she came right on time. Right
on God's time. He works these things in detail
to bring the birth of Christ exactly, and here's what he says
about it. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. When did he come?
When the fullness of the time was come. All right, here's the
second thing I want us to see. A messenger is sent. There's a great fear when the
realization of a messenger, when he comes and you understand in
your heart that God sent him. This is God's messenger. This
ain't another man, this ain't another preacher, this ain't
another whatever standing before you talking to you. You've been
hearing these things from first this one and then that one and
one's telling you one thing and one's telling you another, but
all of a sudden, you appear in the fullness of God's time and
there's a messenger standing before you and you know he's
the messenger of God. How do you know that? God let
you in on it. That's right. Ain't no other
way to know. This is God's man talking to
me, and I know it. I'm not going to hear him like
I hear anybody else, because I know this is God's man. Those
shepherds had no idea. They'd never seen an angel. How would they know what an angel
looked like? Angels can appear as men. Be careful how you entertain
strangers. Some have entertained angels
unaware. And most of us probably have
and just didn't know it. They can appear as a man, they
can appear as smoke, they can appear as vapor, they can appear
as fire. They can appear as just about anything. Angels. But they knew this was God's
messenger. They knew it. And they feared. They feared. But he's not. And listen to this. He sent from God to them. This
angel's not standing there before the world. He's not standing
there before thousands. He's standing there before these
shepherds. Out in the field, not in a church
building, way out there in a pasture somewhere. And he appears. And they know God has something
to say to them. And poor ignorant sinners know
so little about God. There's no other way to explain
it except just to say God makes them know this is God's man. And these shepherds were abiding
in the fields, watching over their flocks. It doesn't even hint as though
they were looking for His coming, expecting Him to appear any moment. They weren't sitting out in the
field expecting some divine visitation. They were just going about their
daily routine, just going about their life, thinking about, they
weren't thinking about God's providence. They were out there
tending their sheep, doing what they've been doing their whole
life. And suddenly the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were afraid. What makes men who have the messenger
of God sent to them fear when he appears? Sin, guilt, shame, but especially
ignorance. Angels, it says in Hebrews 1.14,
are all, every one of them, from the most elite to the least,
are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation. And that word angel means messenger. And then look at the message
itself. Their message was one, they said,
of good tidings and great joy. And not only to them, but to all nations and kindreds
and tongues and tribes under heaven. His message to them was not just
for a few isolated shepherds, but for their children. and their
children's children, and as many as the Lord thy God shall call. What news could he possibly have
that they hadn't already heard? These were Jews. With Luke 2 11, he said, for
unto you, not somebody else, Not to the crowd. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior. He's your Savior. Ain't that
what them angels were telling? Your Savior, that one appointed
before the foundation of the world, has entered into time. He's clothed himself in human
flesh, and being born of a virgin, this Savior, your Savior, this
one who's born for you, unto you, is born this day in the
city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Boy, that's good news. That's
good news to a poor sinner. And if you don't hear anything
else I've said this morning, you hear this. Salvation is in
a person. It's in a person. You're gonna
find nothing but misery if you look anywhere else. If you look
in, you're looking into a black hole. If you try to look forward,
you can't see hardly your hand in front of your face. What do
you know about futures? Nothing. You're not gonna find
any peace, any joy, any satisfaction, any rest anywhere except in him. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Not through something you do,
not through something you feel, not through something that you
hope to do. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Salvation's in a person. It's
not a process. It's not a moral reform of the
old man. It's not a joining of some denomination. Not some sublime feeling or intellectual
understanding. Salvation's in a person. How
much do you have to know about Christ to be saved? Enough to
trust him. How much is that? For some people
it's a lot. For some people it's a little.
I don't know. And this person is Jesus of Nazareth,
who was born of Mary in the city of David. He's the Savior. And salvation is in, by, and
through this person. And salvation is by an eternal
covenant of grace, a divine union in which God put his people.
He didn't just choose a people. If that's how you understand
election, you're missing election. God didn't just choose a people,
he chose us in Christ. Otherwise, it'd be pointless.
He made provision for us in his son, and he chose us and put
us in his son. That by eternal covenant union,
he made us one with his son. He's not gonna treat us like
every other man. He's gonna treat us as we appear
in his son. And you follow the history of
man, a saved man, and you'll see that. God treats him with a prejudice,
he really does. Because he's got a righteousness
in his son. He's got salvation in his son. He has a representative in his
son. You see that? It's in a person. It's in a person. And salvation
not only by eternal covenant union, but salvation is by representation
of Jesus Christ. He's the head of the body. As
Adam was the head of all mankind, he's the head of his elect. As the beginning of all mankind
was in their federal head, Adam, even so the beginning of the
church of God's elect was in the Savior, their Lord. Salvation is by representation
and salvation is by way of substitution. Christ had to become, he had
to clothe himself in human flesh, come down to this earth, live
under that law perfectly, with a perfect obedience, and polish
that obedience off by dying on the cross. It's by substitution. If you
have to pay for one sin, you're still going to be paying in all
eternity. If he didn't pay the debt, if
he didn't pay it off, if it's not paid in full, Winston, you're
going to have to pay it. Christ saves us by representative
righteousness. He clothes us in the righteousness
of his son. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe. And then lastly,
who is this savior? He's Christ the Lord. He's the
promised one. And he's Lord. He's Lord. In Micah chapter five, verse
two, he said, but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel, whose goings
forth have been from of old and from everlasting. He is the Christ. He is the promised Redeemer.
And he's Lord. Lord. What's the name he uses for that
in the Old Testament? Jehovah. Jehovah. Jehovah Jireh is his name, the
Lord will provide. Jehovah Rapah, the Lord that
healeth thee. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. Jehovah Makedesh, the Lord our
sanctification. Jehovah Rapah, the Lord our shepherd. and so on. He's the Lord. Christ the Lord. May the Lord
always, always shut us up to his son. If he does, it'll be
good tidings of great things. That's what he told those shepherds.
I got some good news. And you know, he couldn't hardly
get it out. Just as soon as he got it out, the whole heavenly
host appeared. and begin to praise God. And
we'll get into that when I get back from Missouri. We'll talk
about that, this heavenly host. All right, thank you.